Apparatus for filling containers with rod-shaped articles

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for filling containers with rod-shaped articles includes extractor elements for removing in succession layers of articles from a dispensing mouth and inserting them inside containers, the extractor elements including: a supporting element positioned below the dispensing mouth and designed to receive from above and to hold a layer of articles, being equipped with a motor for moving the supporting element away from the unloading zone after receiving one layer of articles; and a pick-up element designed to pick up from above and to hold a layer of articles supported by a supporting element moved away from the unloading zone, having an actuating device for moving the pick-up element above a container carried by a conveyor, with subsequent release of the relative layer of articles inside the container.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an apparatus for filling containers with rod-shaped articles.

More specifically, this invention addresses the tobacco industry and has for an object an apparatus for filling containers, in particular cardboard boxes, with rod-shaped articles consisting, for example, of cigarettes, filters, filter tubes (tubes of paper with a filter at one end and designed to be filled with tobacco by the smoker).

Hereinafter in this description, reference is made to the handling of rod-shaped articles consisting of cigarettes, without thereby restricting the scope of the invention.

In apparatuses of known type for filling containers with cigarettes, the groups of cigarettes to be packed are usually formed using a vertical hopper into which the cigarettes are fed through an opening at the top of it. The bottom portion of the hopper is divided into a plurality of mouths arranged side by side horizontally and each divided by a plurality of walls into substantially vertical channels arranged side by side horizontally and designed to receive respective stacks of cigarettes reciprocally superposed. Groups of cigarettes, or layers which are then placed on top of one another to form the groups, are pushed axially out of the hopper in succession from the bottom of each hopper mouth by suitable extractor elements which direct the groups to a packing station.

In some cases, especially in apparatuses which operate at high speed, extraction of the cigarettes from the hopper by axial end thrust may damage the cigarettes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention has for an aim to provide an apparatus for filling containers with rod-shaped articles and which handles the articles much more gently than apparatuses known in the prior art.

The invention accordingly provides an apparatus for filling containers with rod-shaped articles, as described in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a non-limiting embodiment of it, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of an apparatus for filling containers with rod-shaped articles, made according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are two schematic side views, partly in cross section, showing a part of the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2 in respective, different working situations; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross section of some details of the apparatus of the preceding figures.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The numeral 1 in FIG. 1 denotes in its entirety an apparatus for filling containers 8 with rod-shaped articles, consisting for example of cigarettes 2.

The apparatus 1 comprises a vertical hopper 3 whose lower portion is equipped with at least one mouth 4 for dispensing cigarettes 2 and preferably subdivided into a plurality of mouths 4 positioned side by side horizontally (four in the embodiment illustrated). Each mouth 4 is subdivided by a plurality of walls 5 substantially vertical and parallel to each other in a plurality of substantially vertical channels 6 positioned side by side horizontally, each of which is designed to accommodate internally a stack 7 of cigarettes 2 reciprocally superposed;

Extractor elements, denoted in their entirety by the numeral 11 (FIGS. 2-4) extract layers 12 of cigarettes 2 in succession from the bottom ends of the channels 6, at the bottom portion of each mouth 4 of the hopper 3, these layers being then reciprocally superposed inside containers 8 carried by a belt conveyor 9, which directs the containers 8 to a further packing station of essentially known type schematically represented as a block 10. For reasons which will become clearer below, the belt conveyor 9 is spaced from the hopper 3 by a length exceeding the length of a cigarette 2.

The extractor elements 11 comprise, for each mouth 4 of the hopper 3, a supporting element consisting of a horizontal plate 13 positioned, at a zone where the cigarettes 2 are unloaded from the mouth 4, below the bottom portion of the mouth 4 itself, and is connected to motor means (schematically represented as a block 13′) which are designed to impart horizontal alternating motion to the plate along a direction F perpendicular to the feed direction A of the upper transport branch 9′ of the belt conveyor 9.

Each plate 13 has a length, measured along the direction A, substantially equal to the length of a bottom portion of the mouth 4 adjacent to it, and a length, measured along the direction F, exceeding twice the length of a cigarette 2. At the two limit stop positions to which it is driven under the action of the respective motor means and which are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, each plate 13 has a respective portion 14, closest to the belt conveyor 9, which is greater in length than a cigarette 2 positioned below the respective mouth 4 and, when extracted from the mouth 4 itself, situated between the mouth 4 and the belt conveyor 9.

The upper surface of the plates 13 defines a plurality of horizontal grooves 15 parallel to the direction F and having substantially in section a substantially semi-circular shape with concavity facing upwards and diameter substantially equal to that of a cigarette 2. The grooves 15 extend substantially along the entire length of the plates 13, in such a way as to affect the parts of the plates located below the bottom portions of the mouths 4, as well as the parts of the plates outside these portions. The transversal arrangement of the grooves 15 is such that each groove 15 is located exactly under the bottom end of a channel 6 and is vertically aligned with the channel 6 itself. The upper surface of each groove 15 is provided with a plurality of holes which can be placed in communication with a suction source, not illustrated.

In the proximity of the belt conveyor 9 there is an apparatus, denoted in its entirety by the numeral 17, for transferring the layers 12 of cigarettes The transfer apparatus essentially comprises a drive or actuating device of basically known type, schematically represented as a block 17, designed to move an articulated arm 18 (also of basically known type) connected thereto at one end of it The other end of the articulated arm 18 supports, through the agency of a connecting bar 19, four pick-up elements, each consisting of a plate 20.

In the embodiment of the apparatus 1 illustrated, there is only one arm 18, but there might be two or more arms 18, for example, positioned parallel to each other.

The plates 20, which are equal in number to the number of mouths 4 of the hopper 3, are provided on their undersides (FIG. 5) with a plurality of horizontal grooves 21 parallel to the direction F and having in section a substantially semi-circular shape with concavity facing downwards and diameter substantially equal to that of a cigarette 2. The grooves 21 of each plate 20 are substantially equal in length to the cigarettes 2 and their number and transversal arrangement are the same as those of the aforementioned grooves 15 of the plates 13, so that each plate 20, in use and as will become clearer as this description continues, can be positioned on top of a respective plate 13 in such a way that the grooves 21 and the corresponding underlying grooves 15 are perfectly aligned. In the same way as described above with reference to the grooves 15, the lower surface of each groove 21 is provided with a plurality of holes which can be placed in communication with a suction source, not illustrated.

In use, when the apparatus 1 is in the operating situation shown in FIG. 3, the lowermost cigarette 2 in each of the channels 6 of the mouths 4 of the hopper 3 rests on a groove 15 of a plate 13 occupying the position furthest away from the belt conveyor 9. In this situation, each groove 15 holds down by suction the cigarette 2 adjacent to it, thus preventing unwanted movements.

The motor means 13′ then move the plates 13 along the horizontal direction F and bring them to the position, shown in FIG. 4, where they are closest to the belt conveyor 9. During this movement of the plates 13, the cigarettes 2 resting on the grooves 15, and held down thereon by suction, are extracted from the respective channels 6 and are carried out of the hopper 3 to form a layer 12 of cigarettes 2 on each of the plates 13. As soon as the cigarettes 2 have come away from the respective channels 6, other cigarettes 2 move down the selfsame channels 6 onto the portions of the grooves 15 located under the channels 6 themselves to form further layers 12.

While the plates 13 dwell at that position, the actuating device 17 moves the articulated arm 18 so as to bring a plate 20 above each plate 13 in such a way that the grooves 21 on the plates 20 are positioned in contact with respective cigarettes 2 carried by the grooves 15 of the plates 13. The suction applied through the grooves 15 is then switched off and the suction through the grooves 21 is switched on to “capture” the cigarettes 2 housed in the grooves 15. The actuating device 17 then moves the articulated arm 18 again, taking the plates 20 and the cigarettes 2 held by the plates 20 above respective containers 8 carried by the upper transport branch 9′ of the belt conveyor 9. Next, each layer 12 of cigarettes 2 carried by a plate 20 is placed inside one of the containers 8 when the suction applied through the grooves 21 is switched off. The plates 20 are then moved away from the containers 8 by the actuating device 17 and the plates 13, after the cigarettes 2 have been removed from the respective grooves 15 as described above, are moved by the motor means 13′ back to the position initially considered, sliding under the cigarettes 2 waiting at the bottom of the channels 6.

The operations described above are then repeated to place other layers 12 one after the other into each of the containers 8 until the containers 8 are completely full.

The belt conveyor 9 is then started in order to move the full containers 8 away from the filling zone and to convey to that zone the same number of empty containers 8 to be filled in their turn.

From the foregoing, it is clear that in the apparatus 1, the cigarettes 2 are extracted from the hopper 3 without applying any axial thrust on the cigarettes 2 themselves and that when filling the containers 8, the cigarettes 2 are handled very gently. 

1. An apparatus for filling containers with rod-shaped articles, comprising a hopper for feeding the articles, having at least one mouth for dispensing the articles through a respective lower end, conveyor means located in the vicinity of the at least one dispensing mouth and supporting a plurality of containers designed to receive inside the superposed layers of articles, extractor means for removing in succession the layers of articles from an unloading zone of each dispensing mouth and inserting them inside containers carried by the conveyor means, characterized in that the extractor means comprise, for each dispensing mouth, a supporting element positioned below the unloading zone of the dispensing mouth and designed to receive from above and to hold a layer of articles, being equipped with motor means for moving the supporting element away from the unloading zone after receiving one layer of articles; and the extractor means also comprising, for each dispensing mouth, a pick-up element designed to pick up from above and to hold a layer of articles supported by a supporting element moved away from the unloading zone, being provided with an actuating device for moving the pick-up element above a container carried by the conveyor means, with subsequent release of the relative layer of articles inside the container.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each dispensing mouth of the hopper is subdivided by a plurality of walls substantially vertical and parallel to each other in substantially vertical channels positioned side by side horizontally, each of which is designed to accommodate internally a stack of articles reciprocally superposed.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each supporting element comprises a horizontal supporting plate having a length, measured parallel to the axes of the articles contained in the hopper, exceeding twice the length of an article, and a width, measured horizontally according to a direction horizontal and perpendicular to the axes of the articles, substantially equal to that of the lower portion of the dispensing mouth adjacent to it; the upper surface of each supporting plate defining a plurality of horizontal grooves, parallel to the axes of the articles contained in the hopper, positioned below the lower ends of respective channels of the overlying dispensing mouth, and having substantially in section a substantially semi-circular shape with concavity facing upwards and diameter substantially equal to that of an article, and the upper surface of each groove being equipped with a plurality of holes which can be placed in communication with a suction source; each supporting plate, in use, being movable, under the action of the motor means associated with it, with alternating horizontal movement according to a direction parallel to the axes of the articles.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein each supporting plate is movable, with alternating horizontal movement according to a direction parallel to the axes of the articles, between two limit stop positions; in a first of these positions each supporting plate having a respective portion closest to the conveyor means positioned below the unloading zone of the dispensing mouth, and in a second of these positions each supporting plate having the respective portion located between the unloading zone and the conveyor means.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the grooves of each supporting plate extend substantially along the entire length of the supporting plate, in such a way as to affect both their parts located below the unloading zone of the relative dispensing mouth and their parts outside this zone.
 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each pick-up element comprises a horizontal pick-up plate having a length, measured parallel to the axes of the articles contained in the hopper, substantially equal to the length of an article, and a width, measured according to a direction horizontal and perpendicular to the axes of the articles, substantially equal to that of a supporting plate; the lower surface of each pick-up plate defining a plurality of horizontal grooves, parallel to the axes of the articles contained in the hopper, and having substantially in section a substantially semi-circular shape with concavity facing downwards and diameter substantially equal to that of an article, and the lower surface of each groove of the pick-up plates being equipped with a plurality of holes which can be placed in communication with a suction source; each pick-up plate being able to position itself, in use and under the action of the actuating device above a corresponding supporting plate with perfect vertical alignment between the respective grooves and in that arrangement the communication being interrupted with a suction source of the holes of the grooves of each supporting plate and the communication being activated with a suction source of the holes of the grooves of each pick-up plate.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pick-up plates are connected to the actuating device using at least one articulated arm.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor means comprise a belt conveyor designed to support with a respective upper transport branch the containers with equidistant positioning. 